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Dynamic programming in cricket: optimizing batting order for a sticky wicket

Author

Listed:
  • J M Norman

    (University of Sheffield)

  • S R Clarke

    (Swinburne University)

Abstract

In cricket, a rain-affected pitch can make batting more difficult than normal. Several other conditions such as poor light or an initially lively pitch, may also result in difficulties for the batsmen. In this note, we refer to all of them as ‘sticky wickets’. On sticky wickets, lower order batsmen are often sent into ‘hold the fort’ until conditions improve. In this paper, a stochastic dynamic programming model is used to examine the appropriateness of this policy. The model suggests that the tactic is often optimal when the sticky wicket persists until the end of the day's play, but not often when the sticky wicket is transitory. In some circumstances, it is worthwhile, on a normal wicket near the end of the day, to send in a lower order batsman to hold the fort (a night watchman): when the wicket is sticky, this tactic is even more worthwhile.

Suggested Citation

  • J M Norman & S R Clarke, 2007. "Dynamic programming in cricket: optimizing batting order for a sticky wicket," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(12), pages 1678-1682, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:58:y:2007:i:12:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2602309
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602309
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. S R Clarke & J M Norman, 2003. "Dynamic programming in cricket: choosing a night watchman," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 54(8), pages 838-845, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Norton, Hugh & Gray, Steve & Faff, Robert, 2015. "Yes, one-day international cricket ‘in-play’ trading strategies can be profitable!," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(S2), pages 164-176.
    2. M B Wright, 2009. "50 years of OR in sport," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(1), pages 161-168, May.
    3. Ajit Karnik, 2010. "Valuing Cricketers Using Hedonic Price Models," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(4), pages 456-469, August.
    4. Mancini Simona & Isabello Andrea, 2014. "Fair referee assignment for the Italian soccer serieA," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 153-160, June.
    5. Praveen Puram & Soumya Roy & Deepak Srivastav & Anand Gurumurthy, 2023. "Understanding the effect of contextual factors and decision making on team performance in Twenty20 cricket: an interpretable machine learning approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 325(1), pages 261-288, June.
    6. Simona Mancini, 2018. "Assignment of swimmers to events in a multi-team meeting for team global performance optimization," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 264(1), pages 325-337, May.
    7. Wei Yin & Zhixiao Ye & Wasi Ul Hassan Shah, 2023. "Indices Development for Player’s Performance Evaluation through the Super-SBM Approach in Each Department for All Three Formats of Cricket," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    8. J M Norman & S R Clarke, 2010. "Optimal batting orders in cricket," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(6), pages 980-986, June.

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